Written Answers Thursday 26 August 2010

Scottish Executive

Benefits

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33775 by Nicola Sturgeon on 7 June 2010, when a report of the meeting with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will be made to the Parliament.

Nicola Sturgeon: I have not yet met the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions but arrangements are in place to organise an opportunity to meet while Mr Duncan Smith is in Edinburgh to attend the Welfare to Work Scotland 2010 conference on 22 September 2010.

Finance

Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee West) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s decision to continue with the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions (NIC) by 0.5% from 2011 will be to (a) each NHS board, (b) each local authority and (c) the remainder of the Scottish block grant in each year from 2011-12.

John Swinney: The calculation of the impact of the 1% employers NIC increase across the whole public sector is a complex one and unfortunately we cannot split the cost of the NIC increase down to each local authority and NHS board as the basis of our calculation has been on the staffing levels across individual sectors. Our current best estimate is that the 1% increase in NIC will cost the Scottish Government around £50 million a year from 2011-12 after taking account of the increase in the NIC threshold.

  Therefore the estimated additional costs for each sector across the Scottish public sector are in the order of £18 million for NHS, £26 million for local government, £5 million for the police and fire services and £0.5 million for the Scottish Government Administration Budget.

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to persuade the Government of Iceland to drop its plans to catch 130,000 tonnes of North Atlantic mackerel in 2010.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to persuade the Government of the Faroe Islands to drop its plans to catch 85,000 tonnes of North Atlantic mackerel in 2010.

Richard Lochhead: The actions of Iceland and Faeroes in setting unilateral total allowable catches (TACs) for mackerel in the North East Atlantic are irresponsible and risk the future sustainability of the stock, which in turn could have serious impacts for the Scottish Pelagic Fleet. I have written twice to Commissioner Damanaki asking her to take a strong stand against the Faroese and Icelanders, and in particular to keep the issue at the fore during Iceland’s EU accession negotiations. Following my first letter, the Commissioner wrote to Commissioner Fule (Enlargement) highlighting the problems and asking him to ensure it was discussed during the accession negotiations.

  My second letter was in response to the Faeroese decision to set a TAC far in excess of their previous share. Following this, the Commissioner made a statement condemning the action and outlining possible further action that would be taken against the Faeroes if they did not reconsider their approach during the next round of negotiations. I have now followed up the letters with a phone conversation during which Commissioner Damanaki assured me of her commitment to resolving the issue and that she would work closely with the Scottish and UK Governments.

  The Scottish Government will continue to work with the UK, the European Commission and other key European member states to identify how best we can ensure Iceland and Faeroes come back to the negotiating table in order to secure a deal that is fair for Scotland and protects the mackerel stock. Marine Scotland has also made an objection to the Marine Stewardship Council certification of the Faroese mackerel stock. The objection has been accepted by the independent adjudicator and the outcome of her review is awaited.

Further Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the drop-out rate has been in each college in each year since 2007.

Keith Brown: The Scottish Funding Council has overall responsibility for the performance of colleges, one element of which is the retention of students. I have asked the chief executive of the funding council to write to the member

Health

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will review and update Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guideline 71, Management of Osteoporosis.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) is in the process of reviewing Guideline 71 on the management of osteoporosis. SIGN plans to publish the revised guideline in the summer of 2012.

Higher Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional full-time equivalent (a) college and (b) university places were funded by the £20 million announced for education and lifelong learning by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth in the budget ( Official Report c. 23368).

Michael Russell: We have been working with the Scottish Funding Council and the Students Award Agency for Scotland to determine how best to allocate this funding. The number of higher education places being funded by the Scottish Funding Council in both the college and university sectors has been decided for the academic year 2010-11. While the admissions process for academic year 2010-11 is not yet complete, it is clear that there is a strong demand for higher education courses. We wish to ensure that there is adequate support for the students who take up the offer of a place, while meeting the commitment we gave to provide student support for an additional 7,500 students in academic year 2009-10, many of whom will continue their studies in academic year 2010-11.

  As a result, the £20 million announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth will be transferred to the Students Award Agency for Scotland as part of the Autumn Budget Revision process, to help meet this demand in academic year 2010-11.

Higher Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent university places it has funded for 2010-11.

Michael Russell: We have funded a total of 129,733.1 full-time equivalent under-graduate and post-graduate university places for 2010-11.

Higher Education

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of graduates from each Scottish university has found employment in Scotland as a first destination in each year since 2007.

Michael Russell: This information is produced by the Higher Education Statistics Agency and is available for year 2007-08, but has not yet been published for year 2008-09.

  Qualifiers from HE courses at Scottish Higher Education Institutions in Employment in Scotland Six Months After Graduating - 2007-08

  

 
% in Employment in Scotland
Number in Employment in Scotland
Total Qualifiers


Total
58.1%
 24,775 
 42,650 


Edinburgh College of Art
41.9%
 105 
 250 


Glasgow Caledonian University
70.8%
 2,630 
 3,715 


Glasgow School of Art
37.8%
 145 
 385 


Heriot-Watt University
41.0%
 745 
 1,815 


Napier University
57.5%
 1,500 
 2,605 


Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
64.4%
 575 
 895 


Scottish Agricultural College
35.7%
 110 
 315 


The Open University
61.7%
 565 
 915 


The Robert Gordon University
71.9%
 1,720 
 2,390 


The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
51.4%
 90 
 175 


The University of Aberdeen
60.7%
 1,725 
 2,845 


The University of Dundee
69.6%
 2,190 
 3,145 


The University of Edinburgh
43.4%
 2,405 
 5,545 


The University of Glasgow
54.2%
 2,000 
 3,685 


The University of St Andrews
17.7%
 230 
 1,290 


The University of Stirling
68.9%
 1,110 
 1,610 


The University of Strathclyde
68.0%
 3,575 
 5,255 


The University of the West of Scotland
71.2%
 2,350 
 3,300 


UHI Millennium Institute
46.3%
 620 
 1,340 


University of Abertay Dundee
33.0%
 385 
 1,170 



  Notes:

  Data supplied by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

  Numbers rounded to the nearest five.

  Percentages calculated on unrounded figures.

Housing

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) the housing debt has been, (b) new housing debt has been contracted, (c) old debt has been repaid, (d) receipts have been derived from right-to-buy sales and (d) the housing stock has been in each local authority in each year since 1999.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on housing debt, new housing debt contracted, repayment of old debt and receipts derived from right-to-buy sales is shown by local authority area in tables 1 to 4, respectively (overleaf).

  For tables 1 to 3 information is available for the years 1999-2000 to 2008-09. For table 4 on right-to-buy receipts data is available for 2007-08 and 2008-09 only.

  Further statistics on right-to-buy, including numbers of sales and average selling prices, are available on the Scottish Government website Although these figures do not match up exactly with sales receipts, they provide an indication of the trend over a longer time period.

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/Sales.

  HRA Gross Capital receipts are published annually in the Local Authority Housing Income and Expenditure Publication:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/HRA2008-09.

  The HRA Gross Capital Receipts table shows gross capital receipts raised in the year and right-to-buy sales are the major component of these.

  Local authority housing stock in each year from 1997-98 is available on the Scottish Government website through the following link:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/StockPublicSector.

  Table 1: Housing Revenue Account, Capital Debt Outstanding at Financial Year End (£000)

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Scotland
3,755,900 
3,652,666 
3,426,804 
2,375,335 
2,125,626 


Aberdeen City
127,001 
121,774 
103,423 
98,827 
94,801 


Aberdeenshire
152,975 
151,854 
146,590 
142,279 
139,862 


Angus
32,916 
31,005 
27,446 
25,088 
23,373 


Argyll and Bute
52,713 
51,221 
49,242 
45,654 
40,590 


Clackmannanshire
28,965 
28,170 
24,004 
21,483 
19,521 


Dumfries and Galloway
105,437 
102,358 
95,845 
90,549 
0 


Dundee City
110,851 
111,661 
113,431 
114,001 
116,180 


East Ayrshire
81,739 
79,923 
77,104 
72,971 
68,745 


East Dunbartonshire
40,870 
38,812 
35,456 
29,870 
25,718 


East Lothian
39,586 
36,053 
25,359 
15,899 
5,938 


East Renfrewshire
25,447 
24,278 
22,765 
21,440 
20,477 


Edinburgh, City of
256,758 
258,744 
255,742 
255,219 
254,030 


Eilean Siar
43,284 
42,484 
41,076 
39,405 
38,373 


Falkirk
91,759 
88,763 
77,940 
66,843 
57,422 


Fife
196,798 
189,941 
178,357 
168,189 
151,526 


Glasgow City
873,592 
864,201 
845,316 
20,825 
19,744 


Highland
216,986 
208,474 
195,166 
185,503 
175,607 


Inverclyde
95,029 
93,718 
89,640 
87,437 
82,773 


Midlothian
22,876 
21,242 
17,434 
12,778 
6,818 


Moray
49,119 
48,456 
47,639 
46,341 
45,411 


North Ayrshire
87,177 
83,538 
75,884 
73,461 
67,424 


North Lanarkshire
215,651 
199,674 
162,367 
137,800 
115,618 


Orkney Islands
3,935 
2,733 
1,767 
1,389 
625 


Perth and Kinross
47,748 
44,803 
39,175 
34,643 
28,306 


Renfrewshire
141,536 
142,606 
142,010 
139,323 
137,442 


Scottish Borders
67,687 
67,055 
64,604 
292 
265 


Shetland Islands
59,931 
57,610 
56,276 
54,334 
53,069 


South Ayrshire
59,987 
58,852 
58,367 
55,944 
53,320 


South Lanarkshire
219,635 
204,948 
179,692 
160,996 
145,186 


Stirling
42,283 
39,254 
35,019 
29,033 
24,958 


West Dunbartonshire
92,755 
91,961 
89,014 
85,453 
80,519 


West Lothian
72,874 
66,500 
53,654 
42,066 
31,985 



  Source: Capital Debt Outstanding returns up to 2005-06; Local Government Capital Return Final returns from 2006-07 onwards.

  Table 1 continued

  

 
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


Scotland
2,005,708 
1,965,407 
1,906,583 
1,862,912 
1,993,493 


Aberdeen City
96,946 
102,150 
114,325 
132,515 
136,741 


Aberdeenshire
136,738 
131,067 
126,761 
126,324 
126,024 


Angus
23,048 
23,530 
23,134 
23,459 
24,684 


Argyll and Bute
37,711 
35,753 
0 
0 
0 


Clackmannanshire
20,412 
21,659 
25,684 
30,862 
33,988 


Dumfries and Galloway
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Dundee City
119,939 
121,139 
124,601 
124,319 
130,969 


East Ayrshire
63,199 
54,691 
53,025 
57,635 
63,249 


East Dunbartonshire
23,194 
21,565 
16,514 
15,819 
16,503 


East Lothian
0 
4,604 
16,210 
20,322 
36,847 


East Renfrewshire
19,778 
20,578 
19,846 
21,135 
21,867 


Edinburgh, City of
251,736 
262,126 
274,627 
287,222 
295,476 


Eilean Siar
37,439 
37,356 
0 
0 
0 


Falkirk
52,565 
44,970 
39,553 
34,666 
36,173 


Fife
130,648 
117,076 
115,453 
110,255 
107,418 


Glasgow City
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Highland
168,157 
160,713 
153,897 
146,304 
140,552 


Inverclyde
81,070 
73,027 
69,282 
0 
0 


Midlothian
1,847 
3,063 
8,609 
30,495 
66,461 


Moray
43,732 
39,932 
37,883 
36,033 
36,880 


North Ayrshire
60,833 
58,471 
59,338 
56,491 
65,475 


North Lanarkshire
105,992 
97,106 
86,996 
85,487 
95,659 


Orkney Islands
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Perth and Kinross
23,575 
19,841 
17,025 
21,863 
35,969 


Renfrewshire
142,268 
145,667 
142,181 
121,631 
123,430 


Scottish Borders
236 
165 
0 
0 
0 


Shetland Islands
51,728 
49,522 
47,666 
45,449 
43,723 


South Ayrshire
49,397 
50,873 
52,587 
54,550 
56,372 


South Lanarkshire
130,953 
130,662 
132,687 
130,526 
130,086 


Stirling
19,593 
16,801 
18,774 
17,764 
16,990 


West Dunbartonshire
81,216 
82,574 
81,901 
83,817 
88,453 


West Lothian
31,758 
38,726 
48,024 
47,969 
63,504 



  Source: Capital Debt Outstanding returns up to 2005-06; Local Government Capital Return Final returns from 2006-07 onwards.

  Table 2: Housing Revenue Account New borrowing (£000)

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Scotland
77,730 
79,996 
117,778 
67,799 
53,073 


Aberdeen City
5,557 
5,426 
5,293 
5,293 
5,293 


Aberdeenshire
4,934 
4,511 
5,071 
4,835 
4,554 


Angus
1,556 
1,674 
1,503 
1,580 
3,198 


Argyll and Bute
2,555 
2,542 
4,080 
2,997 
3,550 


Clackmannanshire
1,468 
1,581 
1,561 
1,642 
1,778 


Dumfries and Galloway
77 
506 
50 
-1,402 
-1,819 


Dundee City
5,762 
9,448 
8,616 
8,876 
9,863 


East Ayrshire
3,552 
3,552 
4,028 
3,131 
3,876 


East Dunbartonshire
2,108 
2,523 
2,617 
2,140 
2,388 


East Lothian
0 
-3,046 
2,698 
-7,507 
-5,822 


East Renfrewshire
0 
88 
-997 
-1,384 
-544 


Edinburgh, City of
5,232 
5,509 
2,750 
2,594 
1,849 


Eilean Siar
1,622 
1,649 
1,800 
788 
1,447 


Falkirk
482 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Fife
-2,962 
-2,087 
-3,233 
-5,729 
-12,171 


Glasgow City
9,852 
798 
33,449 
11,375 
-688 


Highland
-2,447 
6,461 
9,629 
6,435 
7,978 


Inverclyde
4,642 
3,598 
4,660 
4,456 
1,950 


Midlothian
2,122 
2,119 
2,262 
2,122 
2,122 


Moray
2,241 
3,124 
1,848 
1,848 
1,848 


North Ayrshire
2,916 
2,548 
2,486 
5,982 
2,785 


North Lanarkshire
-2,979 
-4,564 
-3,417 
-8,149 
-4,523 


Orkney Islands
222 
210 
260 
150 
220 


Perth and Kinross
2,108 
2,108 
1,111 
669 
1,134 


Renfrewshire
8,072 
7,778 
8,503 
9,907 
7,707 


Scottish Borders
3,434 
3,948 
3,759 
2,298 
0 


Shetland Islands
1,466 
1,531 
2,477 
1,593 
1,328 


South Ayrshire
2,906 
3,359 
3,109 
2,683 
3,249 


South Lanarkshire
5,858 
6,180 
5,858 
5,858 
5,858 


Stirling
-524 
1,014 
134 
-3,068 
-1,164 


West Dunbartonshire
5,898 
5,908 
5,813 
5,786 
5,829 


West Lothian
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 



  Source: Capital Debt Outstanding returns up to 2005-06; Local Government Capital Return Final returns from 2006-07 onwards.

  Table 2 continued

  

 
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


Scotland
63,563 
102,690 
130,862 
149,544 
239,669 


Aberdeen City
11,260 
15,887 
11,949 
20,033 
23,425 


Aberdeenshire
-491 
4,969 
4,435 
0 
0 


Angus
0 
832 
0 
750 
1,700 


Argyll and Bute
3,376 
3,617 
2,392 
0 
0 


Clackmannanshire
1,714 
2,118 
4,946 
6,298 
4,448 


Dumfries and Galloway
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Dundee City
8,886 
6,771 
10,557 
6,224 
13,408 


East Ayrshire
3,567 
0 
353 
5,274 
6,415 


East Dunbartonshire
0 
440 
1,141 
1,770 
2,770 


East Lothian
-63 
4,604 
11,615 
4,383 
16,835 


East Renfrewshire
-224 
1,381 
-48 
2,076 
1,674 


Edinburgh, City of
5,974 
19,721 
22,319 
23,380 
19,707 


Eilean Siar
1,582 
2,286 
1,488 
0 
0 


Falkirk
0 
0 
0 
660 
7,032 


Fife
142 
8,298 
14,891 
12,538 
13,613 


Glasgow City
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Highland
136 
40 
84 
0 
1,179 


Inverclyde
2,189 
0 
1,297 
3,719 
0 


Midlothian
4,483 
1,263 
5,609 
21,973 
36,367 


Moray
1,848 
366 
1,156 
1,626 
2,972 


North Ayrshire
0 
25 
5,481 
0 
11,281 


North Lanarkshire
1,095 
2,667 
0 
10,837 
21,832 


Orkney Islands
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Perth and Kinross
4,065 
0 
0 
7,574 
16,068 


Renfrewshire
8,830 
10,388 
8,500 
1,106 
6,981 


Scottish Borders
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Shetland Islands
571 
0 
501 
0 
218 


South Ayrshire
0 
1,324 
1,178 
1,270 
966 


South Lanarkshire
0 
0 
0 
0 
1,012 


Stirling
-2,612 
0 
4,002 
133 
382 


West Dunbartonshire
6,606 
7,819 
6,656 
9,112 
12,413 


West Lothian
629 
7,874 
10,360 
8,808 
16,971 



  Source: Capital Debt Outstanding returns up to 2005-06; Local Government Capital Return Final returns from 2006-07 onwards

  Table 3: Housing Revenue Account, Repayment of Capital Debt (£000)

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Scotland
184,506 
218,710 
209,643 
1,122,620 
307,127 


Aberdeen City
10,784 
18,473 
10,597 
9,889 
9,319 


Aberdeenshire
6,055 
7,272 
7,574 
9,146 
6,972 


Angus
3,467 
3,883 
2,854 
3,938 
4,913 


Argyll and Bute
4,047 
3,776 
4,830 
5,310 
7,091 


Clackmannanshire
2,263 
4,421 
2,887 
4,163 
3,400 


Dumfries and Galloway
3,156 
3,403 
3,666 
3,894 
88,730 


Dundee City
5,004 
8,489 
7,803 
8,540 
7,684 


East Ayrshire
5,368 
5,471 
4,928 
7,264 
8,102 


East Dunbartonshire
4,166 
3,924 
4,417 
7,064 
7,843 


East Lothian
3,533 
2,474 
7,872 
1,953 
4,139 


East Renfrewshire
1,169 
284 
320 
369 
419 


Edinburgh, City of
8,179 
8,016 
7,813 
7,776 
7,942 


Eilean Siar
2,422 
2,419 
2,438 
2,459 
2,479 


Falkirk
3,478 
5,357 
5,466 
10,972 
9,421 


Fife
3,895 
2,540 
3,724 
4,439 
4,492 


Glasgow City
19,243 
33,781 
19,351 
835,866 
393 


Highland
6,033 
14,664 
14,660 
16,099 
17,874 


Inverclyde
5,953 
6,444 
5,892 
6,659 
6,614 


Midlothian
3,751 
3,649 
4,540 
6,778 
8,082 


Moray
2,904 
3,238 
2,552 
3,146 
2,778 


North Ayrshire
6,555 
6,117 
6,571 
8,405 
8,822 


North Lanarkshire
12,998 
14,105 
15,221 
16,418 
17,659 


Orkney Islands
1,424 
690 
746 
528 
984 


Perth and Kinross
5,053 
4,102 
4,745 
5,201 
7,471 


Renfrewshire
7,002 
6,603 
10,211 
12,594 
9,588 


Scottish Borders
4,066 
5,444 
4,714 
66,610 
27 


Shetland Islands
3,371 
3,105 
2,653 
3,535 
2,593 


South Ayrshire
4,138 
3,209 
3,744 
5,258 
5,873 


South Lanarkshire
19,520 
18,827 
18,467 
24,554 
21,668 


Stirling
2,505 
2,562 
2,821 
2,918 
2,911 


West Dunbartonshire
6,630 
6,806 
7,882 
9,287 
10,763 


West Lothian
6,374 
5,162 
7,684 
11,588 
10,081 



  Source: Capital Debt Outstanding returns up to 2005-06; Local Government Capital Return Final returns from 2006-07 onwards.

  Table 3 continued

  

 
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


Scotland
166,965 
144,041 
195,431 
178,562 
90,698 


Aberdeen City
9,015 
10,294 
644 
973 
868 


Aberdeenshire
2,633 
10,640 
8,742 
438 
300 


Angus
325 
350 
396 
425 
475 


Argyll and Bute
6,280 
5,575 
37,724 
0 
0 


Clackmannanshire
823 
870 
921 
1,120 
1,322 


Dumfries and Galloway
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Dundee City
5,127 
5,573 
5,926 
6,505 
6,757 


East Ayrshire
9,113 
8,508 
2,019 
664 
801 


East Dunbartonshire
2,524 
1,814 
6,192 
1,788 
2,086 


East Lothian
5,875 
0 
9 
271 
310 


East Renfrewshire
475 
545 
684 
788 
943 


Edinburgh, City of
8,509 
9,331 
9,818 
10,787 
11,452 


Eilean Siar
2,516 
2,369 
38,745 
0 
0 


Falkirk
4,857 
7,595 
5,216 
5,547 
5,726 


Fife
23,611 
23,886 
20,569 
16,661 
16,450 


Glasgow City
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Highland
7,521 
7,199 
6,926 
7,056 
6,931 


Inverclyde
4,433 
8,043 
5,134 
72,081 
0 


Midlothian
9,454 
47 
63 
183 
401 


Moray
3,527 
4,166 
3,205 
3,476 
2,125 


North Ayrshire
6,591 
2,387 
4,997 
2,654 
2,297 


North Lanarkshire
10,716 
11,553 
10,109 
10,866 
11,659 


Orkney Islands
625 
0 
0 
0 
0 


Perth and Kinross
8,796 
3,734 
2,816 
2,736 
1,997 


Renfrewshire
4,004 
6,988 
11,986 
19,644 
5,181 


Scottish Borders
29 
71 
0 
0 
0 


Shetland Islands
1,912 
2,206 
1,939 
2,243 
1,943 


South Ayrshire
3,923 
-153 
-479 
-693 
-1,149 


South Lanarkshire
14,233 
291 
1,246 
2,161 
1,452 


Stirling
2,753 
2,792 
2,235 
1,735 
1,158 


West Dunbartonshire
5,909 
6,461 
6,587 
7,196 
7,777 


West Lothian
856 
906 
1,062 
1,257 
1,436 



  Source: Capital Debt Outstanding returns up to 2005-06; Local Government Capital Return Final returns from 2006-07 onwards.

  Note: Includes stock transfer repayments as follows:

  2002-03 - Glasgow City and Scottish Borders.

  2003-04 - Dumfries and Galloway.

  2006-07 - Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, Eilean Siar, Moray.

  2007-08 – Inverclyde.

  Table 4: Housing Revenue Account, Receipts from Right to Buy sales (£000)

  

 
2007-08
2008-09


Scotland
207,444
110,171


Aberdeen City
18,331
7,914


Aberdeenshire
10,587
6,358


Angus
3,578
1,843


Argyll and Bute
0
0


Clackmannanshire
3,087
1,172


Dumfries and Galloway
0
0


Dundee City
6,170
3,441


East Ayrshire
7,109
2848


East Dunbartonshire
2,742
1,694


East Lothian
6,923
3,369


East Renfrewshire
1,238
900


Edinburgh, City of
10,765
8,512


Eilean Siar
0
0


Falkirk
11,010
6,006


Fife
15,306
9,674


Glasgow City
0
0


Highland
9,476
6,065


Inverclyde
1,898
0


Midlothian
5,409
4077


Moray
4,530
1,963


North Ayrshire
9,790
4,430


North Lanarkshire
20,541
11,632


Orkney Islands
548
216


Perth and Kinross
5,520
2,218


Renfrewshire
5,946
3,028


Scottish Borders
0
0


Shetland Islands
1,728
1,653


South Ayrshire
3,301
3,026


South Lanarkshire
22,291
7,932


Stirling
4,570
2,363


West Dunbartonshire
5,278
2,584


West Lothian
9,772
5,253



  Source: Local Government Capital Return Final returns.

  2007-08 is the first year for which this information is available.

Housing

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many private property developers were awarded funding grants in 2008-09.

Nicola Sturgeon: Under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) seven private developers received grant funding monies in 2008-09.

Justice

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would have cost to keep Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi under supervision (a) in a hospice and (b) at home since his release from prison.

Kenny MacAskill: Advice from Strathclyde police, at the time of Mr Al-Megrahi’s release, indicated that, if Mr Al Megrahi had been released to his home in Newton Mearns, the cost of maintaining the appropriate level of protection would have been in the region of £100,000 a week. This estimate does not include the additional protection costs which would have been incurred by trips to hospital or if his family had been residing in the home.

  Had Mr Al Megrahi been released to a hospice, the expectation would be that the security costs would be at least at this level, and quite probably higher if a larger premises had to be secured.

  Given that the variable cost of patient care (including accommodation costs and medical treatment which is patient specific) among hospices it has not been possible to determine accurately the additional costs that would have been incurred on these.

Ministerial Cars

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34712 by John Swinney on 4 August 2010, whether it will consider reducing the ministerial car pool as part of its cost-saving exercise.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government will continue to look at all aspects of operation of the Government Car Service to ensure efficiency.

NHS Staff

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for an appointment with a urology clinician in Lanarkshire.

Nicola Sturgeon: The median wait for a first outpatient consultation at a consultant-led urology clinic in NHS Lanarkshire was 27 days for the year ending 31 March 2010.

NHS Waiting Times

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to improve the timescale between a GP referral and assessment of a patient by a urology clinician.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government Health Directorate’s Improvement Support Team are working with NHS boards across Scotland to redesign and transform services, including urology, as part of delivery of the 18 weeks referral to treatment target which is due to be delivered by end December 2011. The Scottish Governments has also made substantial resources of £230 million over the three years to 2010-11 to increase NHS capacity and ensure sustainable improvements in waiting times for the benefit of patients across Scotland including those requiring access to urology.

  This has seen waiting times for first outpatient consultation reduce from 26 weeks at 31 March 2007 to 12 weeks at 31 March 2009. The 12 weeks waiting time for first outpatient consultation, including the speciality of urology, has effectively been delivered throughout 2009-10.

National Health Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to examine the state of NHS websites and whether it has had access to the UK Department of Health’s digital communications review, circulated internally in June 2010, and, if so, what action it will take to ensure that NHSScotland websites do not contain any deficiencies identified in the review.

Nicola Sturgeon: We have not had access to the Department of Health’s digital communications review and are therefore unable to comment on the contents.

  NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) is currently reviewing the provision of web-based information within NHSScotland, looking specifically at those sites that are hosted within the Scottish Health On the Web (SHOW) website hosting service.

  NHS boards are responsible for updating their own websites and ensuring that they are fit for purpose.

National Health Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many staff in each NHS board are employed to deal with complaints and how much this costs.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

National Health Service

Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact it expects the proposed reforms of the NHS in England to have in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-35559 on 23 August 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Non-Departmental Public Bodies

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35089 by John Swinney on 27 July 2010, what the annual net saving is and how many jobs have been lost as a result of winding up these bodies.

John Swinney: The abolition of the eight public bodies listed in my answer to question S3W-35089 on 27 July 2010 will deliver estimated net savings of around £1.4 million by 2013 and recurring net savings of around £1.5 million per annum thereafter. A detailed breakdown of the costs and savings for each body is set out in the Financial Memorandum to the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 which is available at  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/26-PubSerRef/index.htm .

  Creative Scotland expects that there will be 33 fewer posts as a result of the merger of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen. There are no staffing implications for the other six public bodies abolished on 1 August 2010.

Planning

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether impact on the natural environment, including on birds of prey, is a material consideration when assessing applications for planning consent

Stewart Stevenson: Planning legislation requires decisions on planning applications to be made in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. It is in the first instance for the decision maker, and ultimately for the courts, to decide if a consideration is material to a particular application.

Planning

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it considers the effects of ill-treatment of birds of prey when assessing applications for (a) wind farm developments and (b) any other types of development and what the reason is for its position on this matter.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, when considering applications for development consent, how it considers the possible implications of the development on birds of prey when their numbers are artificially low as a result of ill-treatment and what the reason is for its position on this matter.

Stewart Stevenson: Applications for planning and other development consent which come before ministers must be considered on their own merit, and are therefore considered on a case-by-case basis.

Planning

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has provided, or intends to provide, advice to planning authorities on how they should take into account the effects of ill-treatment of birds of prey in assessing applications for (a) wind farm development and (b) any other type of development and what the reason is for its position on this matter.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government is unaware of any evidence of widespread or significant links between the systematic ill-treatment of birds of prey and applications for wind farm or other developments. Consequently, the government has no plans to issue such advice.‪‪‪

Planning

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the absence of birds of prey from a development site as a result of ill-treatment would be a material consideration in determining applications for development consent and what the reason is for its position on this matter.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether evidence that disturbance to birds had taken place, thereby reducing the apparent importance of a site for birds, would be a material consideration in assessing applications for development consent and what the reason is for its position on this matter.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answers to questions S3W-35624 and S3W-35625 on 26 August 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Prison Service

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the procedure is for notifying local police forces of prisoners released on temporary licence in their areas.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The local police forces are notified of all prisoners who are due to be going on temporary licence to their particular area. This is achieved through an email from the SPS establishment releasing the prisoner to the central contact point within that force area.

Prison Service

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who must be informed of a prisoner’s release; whether this is laid out in statute, and how many times it was not complied with in (a) 2007, (b) 2008 and (c) 2009 and has not been complied with in 2010.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  There are arrangements in place with other Justice Sector colleagues for sharing information on a prisoner’s release, but none are specifically related to statute. Consequently the question of compliance is not appropriate.

  The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 part 16 lays out the notification arrangements for victims of crime. This allows victims or an eligible family member the right to receive information about the release from prison of the offender who committed the crime against them and also their eligibility in certain circumstances, for unescorted temporary release. This covers, for example, short periods of home leave, pre-release leave, day release to visit ill relatives and temporary release to attend work or educational placements.

Prison Service

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been received regarding the failure of adequate notification of a prisoner’s release in each year since 1999.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Scottish Prison Service do not record the information requested.

Prison Service

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what body is responsible for monitoring the behaviour of prisoners on temporary release.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The conduct of prisoners on temporary release is governed by licence conditions, set by the Scottish Prison Service. Any breaches of these conditions which are brought to the attention of the Prison Service may result in the revocation of the licence.

Prison Service

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners on temporary release (a) failed or have failed to return to prison or (b) committed or have committed an offence while on release in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009 and (iv) 2010.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  (a) The table below gives the number of prisoners who have failed to return to prison following temporary release:

  

Year
Number of Prisoners


2007
35


2008
19


2009
10


2010
The information requested is not yet available



  (b) The information requested is not available.

Prison Service

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have sued the Scottish Prison Service since May 2007 and what the outcome has been in each case.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Approximately, 2,036 prisoners have raised proceedings against the SPS in the sheriff courts or Court of Session since May 2007. A prisoner may raise actions in respect of more than one matter, and the total number of actions raised is 2,080. The outcome of those actions can be found in the following table:

  

 
Total


Number dismissed following settlement or otherwise
190


Number sisted
1,887


Number under offer
3



  The majority of these actions relate to detention in slopping out conditions.

Prison Service

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) start and (b) end date is for the pharmacy supply contract for the Scottish Prison Service.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS recently awarded a three-year contract, with options to extend, for the provision of pharmaceutical goods and professional services to its directly managed prisons.

  The contract commenced on 1 April 2010 and the initial three-year period will cease on 31 March 2013.

Roads

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on landscaping on the trunk road network in each of the last five years, broken down by operating area.

Stewart Stevenson: The total spend on trunk road landscaping in each of the Trunk Road Operating Company areas is shown in the following table (in £millions):

  

Operating Company Area
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10


North East Unit
0.507
1.576
1.372
0.858
0.837


North West Unit
0.737
1.778
2.149
1.118
1.387


South East Unit
1.385
1.284
0.933
0.954
0.963


South West Unit
1.653
2.051
1.623
1.186
1.160


Total
4.282
6.689
6.077
4.116
4.347

Scottish Funding Council

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which members of the Scottish Funding Council have experience in accountancy or allied professions.

Keith Brown: Three of the present members of the Scottish Funding Council are qualified accountants. They are John McClelland (Chair), Ian Adam and Robin Crawford.

Scottish Government Finance

Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee West) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates have been made of the impact on the Scottish economy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s decision to continue with the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions by 0.5% from 2011 and how much this is expected to remove from the Scottish economy.

John Swinney: The UK Government’s plans will increase the overall UK tax burden by £18 billion in 2011-12. This includes increasing both employee and employer national insurance contribution rates by 1%. Whilst the impact on employers will be partly offset by the accompanying increase in the employer national insurance threshold, the rise is still projected to cost the Scottish public sector £50 million next year. By raising staff costs for firms across Scotland the higher contribution rate could threaten jobs at a time when the Scottish labour market and the economic recovery remain fragile.

Scottish Government Finance

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34733 by Jim Mather on 16 July 2010, for what reason the accountable officer for Homecoming Scotland 2009 is different to the accountable officer for The Gathering 2009.

Jim Mather: The accountable officer reflects the different Scottish Government budget lines which supported Homecoming Scotland 2009 and The Gathering 2009.

Scottish Government Finance

Joe FitzPatrick (Dundee West) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of the (a) recent Independent Budget Review Panel chaired by Crawford Beveridge and (b) Independent Budget Review Group chaired by Bill Howat and how much was paid in (i) remuneration and (ii) expenses to the members of each.

John Swinney: The estimated total cost of the Independent Budget Review Panel, chaired by Crawford W Beveridge CBE, which published its report on 29 July 2010, was as follows:

  

 
£


Members’ remuneration:
NIL


Members’ expenses:
approximately £2,000


Costs of design, printing, publication, launch and media support:

  approximately £22,000


Total:
approximately £24,000



  Note: final costs have yet to be processed, and the figures provided represent a best estimate as at the date of this answer.

  The total cost of the Budget Review Group, chaired by Bill Howat, of which the report was released on 24 May 2007, was as follows:

  

 
£


Members’ remuneration:
£124,629.60


Members’ expenses:
£9,676.92


Costs of design, printing, publication, launch and media support:

  NIL


Total cost:
£134,306.52



  Note: No printing, publication or launch costs were incurred. The report of the Budget Review Group, completed in July 2006, was released following the change of administration in May 2007 as a web-only publication.

  In the case of each review, all Scottish Government staff costs were met from within existing resources. Time incurred by Scottish Government staff in providing secretariat and technical support for each of the two review process was not separately quantified.

Tourism

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much VisitScotland spent on (a) administration and (b) marketing in 2009-10.

Jim Mather: VisitScotland’s audited accounts for 2009-10 are not yet available. They will be published later in the year, normally in November, when they are laid in Parliament.

  According to the 2008-09 accounts which were prepared under UKGAP accounting standards:

  (a) VisitScotland’s "other operating costs" for 2008-09 were £10.7million.

  (b) VisitScotland’s "commercial marketing activities" costs for 2008-09 were £28.8million.

  The published accounts for 2008-09 give more detail and are available at:

  http://www.visitscotland.org/about_us/our_focus/annual_report.aspx.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Festival of Politics

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the estimated cost is of the 2010 Festival of Politics.

Tricia Marwick: The estimated direct cost to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body for the 2010 Festival of Politics, once estimated income from ticket sales and sponsorship has been taken into account is between £40,000 and £45,000. Once approved by auditors, the total direct costs to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will be published.